X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy and applications to fuel cell catalysts

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1 X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy and applications to fuel cell catalysts Carlo Segre Physics Department & CSRRI, Illinois Institute of Technology and Materials Research Collaborative Access Team Sponsors: Department of Energy & Army Research Office

2 Outline Synchrotron Radiation How it is produced (bending magnets & undulators) Interaction of x-rays with matter (scattering & absorption) X-ray absorption spectroscopy basics Fuel Cell Catalysts Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell & ORR Operando fuel cell & measurements XAS experiments on Pt/C and PtNi/C cathodes Delta XANES experiment and calculation Structural model of metal nanoparticle Simple model of subsurface Ni

3 Outline Synchrotron Radiation How it is produced (bending magnets & undulators) Interaction of x-rays with matter (scattering & absorption) X-ray absorption spectroscopy basics Fuel Cell Catalysts Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell & ORR Operando fuel cell & measurements XAS experiments on Pt/C and PtNi/C cathodes Delta XANES experiment and calculation Structural model of metal nanoparticle Simple model of subsurface Ni

4 What is a synchrotron? booster ring electron gun linac beam line figure courtesy of the Australian Synchrotron end station

5 Headlight effect electron rest frame emission is symmetric about the axis of the acceleration vector laboratory frame emission is pushed into the direction of motion of the electron and Doppler shifted up

6 Bending magnet radiation Bending Magnet Broad spectrum visible to x-ray Large horizontal divergence Small vertical divergence Universal spectral curve

7 Undulator radiation Undulator Highly peaked, tunable, spectrum Small horizontal and vertical divergence Some coherence (like a laser!)

8 Elastic x-ray scattering Elastic process energy of x-ray does not change Change in direction of photon momentum corresponds to scattering vector Interference effects from all electrons in sample give structural information

9 The x-ray scattering experiment Io = Incident Flux 2D CCD or Image Plate Detector I o diffraction 2D small angle scattering

10 Inelastic x-ray processes Synchrotron radiation makes practical a number of inelastic processes XAS XRR RIXS XMCD

11 X-ray absorption spectroscopy Photon is absorbed and promotes an electron from a core level Core hole is filled by an upper level electron, emitting a fluorescence photon Self-interference effects provide local structural and electronic information

12 The x-ray absorption experiment Io = It = If = x = μ(e) = Incident Flux Transmitted Flux Fluorescence Intensity Sample Thickness Absorption Coefficient I o I f I t E x I=Io e E x=ln [] Io It E If Io

13 The x-ray absorption event (simplified) EXAFS Ni XANES Pt Pt N j f j k 2 2j k2 2R j / k k = j e e sin [2R j j k ] 2 k Rj Nj: Nearest neighbors of type j Rj: Nearest neighbor distance between central atom and backscatters in j th shell σj: Debye-Waller factor accounting for thermal and static disorder λ: Inelastic electron mean free path δj: Phase shift due to potentials of the central atom and backscattering atoms j.

14 Example of XAFS analysis EXAFS region Remove background XANES region Extract structural parameters for first shell and more distant atoms as well k-weight = 3 Fourier transform and fit with simple structural model

15 Outline Synchrotron Radiation How it is produced (bending magnets & undulators) Interaction of x-rays with matter (scattering & absorption) X-ray absorption spectroscopy basics Fuel Cell Catalysts Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell & ORR Operando fuel cell & measurements XAS experiments on Pt/C and PtNi/C cathodes Delta XANES experiment and calculation Structural model of metal nanoparticle Simple model of subsurface Ni

16 What is a catalyst? cat a lyst \'ka-tə-ləst\ 1 : a substance that enables a chemical reaction to proceed at a usually faster rate or under different conditions (as at a lower temperature) than otherwise possible 2 : an agent that provokes or speeds significant change or action

17 Catalysts are big business! Over $12 billion in worldwide sales in 2008 Commercial uses include Automotive applications (catalytic converter) Chemical production (e.g. production of ammonia) Petroleum industry (hydrocarbon cracking) Power industry (removal of sulfur) Food processing (hydrogenation) Fuel cells

18 Fuel cell catalysts are news!

19 Polymer exchange membrane fuel cell Anode : 2H2 4H+ + 4e- (0V SHE) Cathode :O2 + 4H+ + 4e- 2H2O (1.229V SHE) (a) O2 + Pt Pt O2 (b) Pt-O2 + H+ + e- Pt O2H (c) Pt O2H + Pt Pt OH + Pt O (d) Pt OH + Pt O + 3H+ + 3e- 2Pt + 2H2O U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Fuel Cell Test and Evaluation Center (FCTec) Takako Toda et al. J. Electrochem Soc. 146 (10) (1999)

20 Open questions (among many...) Pt: How do reactants adsorb on platinum surface? Do all faces of Pt adsorb equally well? Is there a change in location with coverage? PtNi: Why is ORR improved with bimetallic catalyst? Pt electronic structure modified Pt catalyst geometric structure is modified Static oxygen adsorbates inhibited Overpotential reduced How do real catalysts differ from model systems?

21 Catalyst nanoparticle 3 nm Pt M O Study under operando conditions Use a surface or local structural probe Combine with computational modeling

22 Probing the steady state Version 2 operando cell Air-breathing cathode Pd on anode 1.2 mg/cm2 loading 50 C operating temperature Pt L3 and Ni K edges Continuous scan (1-2 min)

23 Fuel cell performance PtNi/Pd shows higher open circuit voltage Pt/Pd and PtNi/Pd have similar performance

24 Data quality: Pt edge in Pt/C Merge of scans Data good to k=13 Oxygen peak just below 2 Å

25 Data quality: Ni edge in PtNi/C Merge of scans Data good to k=11

26 Outline Synchrotron Radiation How it is produced (bending magnets & undulators) Interaction of x-rays with matter (scattering & absorption) X-ray absorption spectroscopy basics Fuel Cell Catalysts Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell & ORR Operando fuel cell & measurements XAS experiments on Pt/C and PtNi/C cathodes Delta XANES experiment and calculation Structural model of metal nanoparticle Simple model of subsurface Ni

27 Pt/C and PtNi/C comparison

28 XANES modeling of Pt-O adsorption Modeling of oxygen at Pt surface using FEFF8 Self-consistent calculations including multiple scattering Models XANES region accurately (getting better and better...) Position of oxygen results in distinctive signatures in Δμ Experimental data on model surfaces Teliska, M.; O'Grady, W. E.; Ramaker, D. E., J. Phys. Chem. B 2005,109(16),

29 Extension to more realistic system Lewis, E. A.; Segre, C. U.; Smotkin, E. S., Electrochimica Acta 2009,54, 7181.

30 Structural model Attempt to get global information about oxygen Fit all potentials with same metal core parameters for each catalyst Simultaneous fit of Pt and Ni edges in PtNi/C with constraint on Pt-Ni path Fit in k, k2, and k3 weighting simultaneously M-O path constraints length common across potentials σ2 fixed to 0.01 Pt-O in PtNi/C are refined with a single occupation #

31 Example fits

32 Fit results Note Pt-Pt, Pt-O bond lengths

33 Fit results: oxygen coordination

34 What does Ni really do? Resides predominantly in metal core of nanoparticle Eliminates static Pt-O bonds at all potentials Number of O near neighbors increases with potential Lengthens Pt-O and shortens Pt-Pt bond Reduces Pt white line in most reduced state (0 mv) Open circuit voltage is increased (reduction in overpotential) Can we use modeling to establish specific mechanism? Pt-Pt bond reduction (weakening of Pt-O bond)? Electron donation to Pt d-band (weakening of Pt-O bond)? Stronger affinity for oxygen?

35 Pt cluster modeling Separate the effects of a) Shorter Pt-Pt distance b) Charge transfer from subsurface Ni Use experimentally determined distances Calculate local density of states Calculate XANES spectrum

36 Cluster calculation results Strain effect shorter Pt-Pt bond broader and lower Pt d-band Serves to weaken the Pt-O bond White line at absorption edge is reduced In agreement with DFT calculations (Nørskov et al.) Ligand effect subsurface Ni sharpens and raises Pt d-band Raises chemisorption energy Increases white line Net effect of Ni dominated by strain effect Predictive ability Moving down periodic table (Ru, Ag) Moving left across periodic table (towards Mn)

37 Conclusions: where do we go from here? Operando cell Produces usable spectra in ~1 min (limited by electronics?) Analyzable data in just 1 scan (can look at time evolution)

38 Thank you! Collaborators Qingying Jia IIT (Ph.D. student) Eugene Smotkin Northeastern University Emily Lewis Northeastern University (M.S. Student) Corey Grice NuVant Systems, Inc. Harry Riviera University of Puerto Rico (Ph.D. student)

39 Abstract New, improved catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) are regularly being reported. These include carbon nanotubes, iron complexes inserted into graphite, specially nanostructured platinum bimetallic materials and ultra-small platinum particles, for example. Each of them claim to have performance superior to that of commercial platinum catalysts. Despite this, platinum nanoparticles remain unmatched as ORR catalysts for their combination of performance and durability. Furthermore, a complete understanding of how the oxygen reduction catalyst functions in a working fuel cell still eludes us. Physicists have made valuable contributions using a combination of experimental and computational methods centered around x-ray absorption spectroscopy. This local structural and electronic probe gives insights into catalyst operation at timescales from hours to less than a minute. An overview of recent experimental and computational results, including our own work, will be presented.

40 Initial operando fuel cell design Used for anode studies of PtRu catalysts Viswanathan, R. et al, Review of Scientific Instruments 2002,73(5),

41 Probing the short time scales Tada, M.; Murata, S.; Asasoka, T.; Hiroshima, K.; Okumura, K.; Tanida, H.; Uruga, T.; Nakanishi, H.; Matsumoto, S.; Inada, Y.; Nomura, M.; and Iwasawa, Y., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2007, 46,

42 Mechanism of water dissociation